Foundation manager 'back in solitary'

The Thomson Reuters Foundation manager detained in Iran is feared to have been returned to solitary confinement.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 37, was previously allowed almost daily phone calls with her family. Nothing has been heard from her since 5 June, however, and it not clear where she is being held.

Ratcliffe, a project manager, was detained by Revolutionary Guards on 3 April as she tried to leave Iran with her daughter, Gabriella, whose second birthday was last Saturday.

“I think she’s probably back in solitary confinement,” her husband Richard Ratcliffe said. “Everything that we know is consistent with her being back in solitary. It’s really very concerning. She was very clear that she really hoped to be out in time for Gabriella’s birthday.”

The child is in the care of her grandparents. The authorities have kept her British passport.

“It feels like it’s a demonstration of power and control,” Richard Ratcliffe said. “She really had built all her hopes up to be released in time for Gabriella’s birthday.”

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has dual British-Iranian nationality, had been on holiday visiting her parents in Tehran.

Immediately after her arrest she was taken to a prison in Kerman province, 600 miles south-east of Tehran, and placed in solitary confinement. She was then transferred to a group cell on 18 May and allowed to see her parents and Gabriella. ■